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Play Money: Or, How I Quit My Day Job and Made Millions Trading Virtual Loot
Play Money explores a remarkable new phenomenon that's just beginning to enter public MMORPGs, or Massively MultiPlayer Online Role-Playing Games, in which hundreds of thousands of players operate fantasy characters in virtual environments the size of continents. With city-sized populations of nearly full-time players, these games generate their own cultures, governments, and social systems and, inevitably, their own economies, which spill over into the real world.The desire for virtual goods--magic swords, enchanted breastplates, and special, hard-to-get elixirs--has spawned a cottage industry of "virtual loot farmers": People who play the games just to obtain fantasy goods that they can sell in the real world. The best loot farmers can make between six figures a year and six figures a month . Play Money is an extended walk on the weird a vivid snapshot of a subculture whose denizens were once the stuff of mere sociological spectacle but now--with computer gaming poised to eclipse all other entertainments in dollar volume, and with the lines between play and work, virtual and real increasingly blurred--look more and more like the future.
336 pages, Hardcover
First published June 28, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
August 7, 2008
This book obviously isn't for everyone. In it Julian Dibbell describes a long-term project where he set out to make tens of thousands of real dollars by selling and trading virtual possessions in massively multiplayer online games like World of Warcraft, EverQuest, or his own specialty, Ultima Online.
The concept is pretty simple: there's a magic sword in the game that you want for your character, but you aren't lucky enough or skillful enough or patient enough to get it. So you go eo eBay or any other countless websites and you fork over $50 or $125 or $300 or whatever in real money to another player so that he meets up with you in the game and gives you the sword. Now consider that many of these games have crafting systems where players can collect raw materials and money that can be used to create the magic sword, and suddenly that simple business transaction blooms into something more. You have low-level suppliers gathering up raw materials. You have craftsmen taking them, organizing them, and creating magic swords. You have logistics managers keeping track of inventory and relaying requests to suppliers for more raw materials based on what's in demand. You have a sales force posting eBay auctions. You have delivery boys fulfilling the orders and handing over the imaginary swords to characters played by real consumers.
You have, in essence, a supply chain. And just like with real-life supply chains, people are profiting along the way, with the people running things are making thousands of dollars. Hundreds of thousands of dollars. Millions of dollars. No, seriously.
The author of Play Money: How I Quit My Day Job and Struck it Rich in Virtual Loot Farming is actually pretty small potatoes in that he only makes $47,000 over a year's worth of selling his pixilated wares. But Dibbell makes it an interesting read if you can overlook a few overly metaphysical chapters on the nature of play and a few too many droppings of names like Adam Smith or some guy who wrote a paper on all this. The author basically takes us from beginning to end in his attempts at striking it rich in the Ultima Online virtual loot market, giving us insight into how he and some of the major players in the scene made their fortunes. There's some appropriately geeky explanations of the mechanics of gold "farming" and associated profiteering, and we see how people do it both through honest play/work and through exploiting bugs in the game's code. We see how hackers devise a way to spontaneously create BILLIONS of gold pieces --enough to completely obliterate the in-game economy if they wanted to-- and then lose it all in the face of infighting and blackmail. We even get a glimpse at a Chinese sweat shop where low wage workers are stacked on top of each other and paid to play video games for 12+ hours per day so that they can generate both virtual and real wealth for their overlords. It's fascinating stuff.
I really only have two chief complaints about the book. The first is that it focusses primarily on Ultima Online, which is an older game I never played. A more current examination of the subject would undeniably center on World of Warcraft, which is the most successful MMOG ever. Still, Diddell's experiences are what they are, and the mechanics he describes in Ultima Online are no doubt largely applicable to other games in the same vein.
My second complaint, however, is more substantial. The author blatantly ignores the implications that his enterprises have on players who aren't in it to make money. The unintended effects of gold farmers are not insubstantial. They may cause inflation of the in-game economies. They may try to dominate certain tracts of the game world and make them unfriendly to casual players through harassment, hogging of resources, or outright warfare. And, of course, one gets sick of them spamming "WTB RUNECLOTH X40 STACKS!!!!!!!!" in the chat channels all day and night. Yet Dibbel glosses over all this.
Still, it's a good read if you're interested in the topic. I really like how Dibbell makes it a very personal story so that over the course of his efforts I started to feel for the guy --especially at the end when we see it all laid out in hindsight. And Dibbell obviously loves the game and the whole scene. This wasn't just a book about the ins and outs of gold farming and selling virtual loot. It's a book about one gamer trying to make a fortune by doing those things in a game that he loves. It's both entertaining and informative, which is a rare combination.
The concept is pretty simple: there's a magic sword in the game that you want for your character, but you aren't lucky enough or skillful enough or patient enough to get it. So you go eo eBay or any other countless websites and you fork over $50 or $125 or $300 or whatever in real money to another player so that he meets up with you in the game and gives you the sword. Now consider that many of these games have crafting systems where players can collect raw materials and money that can be used to create the magic sword, and suddenly that simple business transaction blooms into something more. You have low-level suppliers gathering up raw materials. You have craftsmen taking them, organizing them, and creating magic swords. You have logistics managers keeping track of inventory and relaying requests to suppliers for more raw materials based on what's in demand. You have a sales force posting eBay auctions. You have delivery boys fulfilling the orders and handing over the imaginary swords to characters played by real consumers.
You have, in essence, a supply chain. And just like with real-life supply chains, people are profiting along the way, with the people running things are making thousands of dollars. Hundreds of thousands of dollars. Millions of dollars. No, seriously.
The author of Play Money: How I Quit My Day Job and Struck it Rich in Virtual Loot Farming is actually pretty small potatoes in that he only makes $47,000 over a year's worth of selling his pixilated wares. But Dibbell makes it an interesting read if you can overlook a few overly metaphysical chapters on the nature of play and a few too many droppings of names like Adam Smith or some guy who wrote a paper on all this. The author basically takes us from beginning to end in his attempts at striking it rich in the Ultima Online virtual loot market, giving us insight into how he and some of the major players in the scene made their fortunes. There's some appropriately geeky explanations of the mechanics of gold "farming" and associated profiteering, and we see how people do it both through honest play/work and through exploiting bugs in the game's code. We see how hackers devise a way to spontaneously create BILLIONS of gold pieces --enough to completely obliterate the in-game economy if they wanted to-- and then lose it all in the face of infighting and blackmail. We even get a glimpse at a Chinese sweat shop where low wage workers are stacked on top of each other and paid to play video games for 12+ hours per day so that they can generate both virtual and real wealth for their overlords. It's fascinating stuff.
I really only have two chief complaints about the book. The first is that it focusses primarily on Ultima Online, which is an older game I never played. A more current examination of the subject would undeniably center on World of Warcraft, which is the most successful MMOG ever. Still, Diddell's experiences are what they are, and the mechanics he describes in Ultima Online are no doubt largely applicable to other games in the same vein.
My second complaint, however, is more substantial. The author blatantly ignores the implications that his enterprises have on players who aren't in it to make money. The unintended effects of gold farmers are not insubstantial. They may cause inflation of the in-game economies. They may try to dominate certain tracts of the game world and make them unfriendly to casual players through harassment, hogging of resources, or outright warfare. And, of course, one gets sick of them spamming "WTB RUNECLOTH X40 STACKS!!!!!!!!" in the chat channels all day and night. Yet Dibbel glosses over all this.
Still, it's a good read if you're interested in the topic. I really like how Dibbell makes it a very personal story so that over the course of his efforts I started to feel for the guy --especially at the end when we see it all laid out in hindsight. And Dibbell obviously loves the game and the whole scene. This wasn't just a book about the ins and outs of gold farming and selling virtual loot. It's a book about one gamer trying to make a fortune by doing those things in a game that he loves. It's both entertaining and informative, which is a rare combination.
February 11, 2010
I love tabletop role playing games but really only with people I'm already friends with - I should probably be a little more leery of stereotyping most players as social cripples and dorks but the truth of the matter is that a lot of gamers aren't people I want to spend a lot of time with. That's just one of the reasons I've avoided getting pulled in to online RPGs [or MMORGS:] like World of Warcraft or Ultima Online - the too-real threat of addiction is also a factor, since I already find it too easy to waste time on the internet,doing things like a book review when I should be working.
But the subject of Dibbell's book is still fascinating to me even if I've never played any of those online games - the idea there are people out there whose job it is to play, or work in, these environments is just fascinating to me. I'm pretty sure this is the author of the Wired magazine article I first read about "gold farming" and the book is a more detailed, exhaustive look at the phenomenon: if you're unfamiliar with the idea, it deals with people who are able to make real-world dollars buying and trading the items that exist in these virtual games - if you want to fly around on a dragon, say, but don't want to spend two months hunting and training one, you can just log on to eBay and purchase one from someone else. There are all sorts of ethical ins and outs that go along with this, since the computer-basis of these worlds can lead to all sorts of shenanigans from programmed 'bots to the hiring of a Chinese sweatshop of players who just endlessly slay monsters and "farm" items as part of an international supply chain... and Dibbell does a great job of exploring a lot of these facets.
My only complaint about the book is how it sort of trails off toward the later half, essentially devolving into a reprint of his orginial blog posts chronicling his time in the gold-trading biz and losing a lot of the reportage and anecdotes that made the first half so interesting - this is apparently a complaint Dibbel heard during his blogging days as well, as regular readers bemoaned his descent into hucksterism and endless updates of the market conditions or his weekly sales figures. The book does end with a great chapter on his frustrations talking to IRS agents about whether or not the IRS really wants citizens to report all forms of financial gain - according to the rules, bartering is considered taxable income, for example. But as one IRS consultant he talks with points out, the government doesn't really consider trade in magic swords and gemstones to be a valid form of commerce... despite the fact Dibbell can provide an entire year's worth of exchange rates for Ultima Online gold pieces to American dollars.
Fascinating stuff.
But the subject of Dibbell's book is still fascinating to me even if I've never played any of those online games - the idea there are people out there whose job it is to play, or work in, these environments is just fascinating to me. I'm pretty sure this is the author of the Wired magazine article I first read about "gold farming" and the book is a more detailed, exhaustive look at the phenomenon: if you're unfamiliar with the idea, it deals with people who are able to make real-world dollars buying and trading the items that exist in these virtual games - if you want to fly around on a dragon, say, but don't want to spend two months hunting and training one, you can just log on to eBay and purchase one from someone else. There are all sorts of ethical ins and outs that go along with this, since the computer-basis of these worlds can lead to all sorts of shenanigans from programmed 'bots to the hiring of a Chinese sweatshop of players who just endlessly slay monsters and "farm" items as part of an international supply chain... and Dibbell does a great job of exploring a lot of these facets.
My only complaint about the book is how it sort of trails off toward the later half, essentially devolving into a reprint of his orginial blog posts chronicling his time in the gold-trading biz and losing a lot of the reportage and anecdotes that made the first half so interesting - this is apparently a complaint Dibbel heard during his blogging days as well, as regular readers bemoaned his descent into hucksterism and endless updates of the market conditions or his weekly sales figures. The book does end with a great chapter on his frustrations talking to IRS agents about whether or not the IRS really wants citizens to report all forms of financial gain - according to the rules, bartering is considered taxable income, for example. But as one IRS consultant he talks with points out, the government doesn't really consider trade in magic swords and gemstones to be a valid form of commerce... despite the fact Dibbell can provide an entire year's worth of exchange rates for Ultima Online gold pieces to American dollars.
Fascinating stuff.
July 29, 2021
It's hard to overstate how much I love this book. Third time of reading. It captures all the excitement I felt when creating for myself an online business in poker, both playing and coaching.
Dibbell is so *human* in his erudite and hilarious account of his journey to becoming, for a short time, one of the top sellers of virtual gold and artifacts on eBay, from the mmorpg, Ultima Online, back in the early noughties. Self effacing, ambitious, troubled. Human, in a world of orcs and wizards.
Dibbell is so *human* in his erudite and hilarious account of his journey to becoming, for a short time, one of the top sellers of virtual gold and artifacts on eBay, from the mmorpg, Ultima Online, back in the early noughties. Self effacing, ambitious, troubled. Human, in a world of orcs and wizards.
December 6, 2016
Interesting book. It's strange to read now, more than 10 years after the original experiment to earn a living in the virtual world, as the games have changed, and professional gaming/eSports has somewhat legitimised making a career from videogames.
But despite that, it's still worth reading, particularly to see the early start of the more hidden industry in exploiting loopholes in games to potentially make large amounts of money, and how it effects those who start playing because they actually enjoy the game itself...
But despite that, it's still worth reading, particularly to see the early start of the more hidden industry in exploiting loopholes in games to potentially make large amounts of money, and how it effects those who start playing because they actually enjoy the game itself...
April 20, 2023
This review sums up my feelings well: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
An account of Dibbell's foray into making money through buying and selling virtual items in Ultima Online in I think the early 2000s. Dibbell is a highly entertaining writer and I'm interested in the book's themes because of my research. I found his detailed explication of the labour (playbour) involved, winding supply chains, sales platforms, and the usage of bots and cheating to be both painstaking and fascinating; however, I think that his attempt to theorise about it feels slightly flat. He sets out a premise/claim about work and play at the beginning of the book which was never quite met--I think as reportage it was strong enough to stand up on its own without necessarily requiring an engagement with theories of play--and I also think that said premise was a little unformed and tentative, but delivered with slightly too much gravitas. Perhaps it's because I'm reading this in 2023 and it's so clear to us now how much play interweaves with work due to the widespread gamification of everyday life and Dibbell is writing from quite a different context, so his arguments feel a little tenuous and not strongly supported.
Regardless, it was a speedy and entertaining read, especially Dibbell's conclusion that the only way to make money from gold farming is through cheating, or being willing to deal with cheaters. I also really liked Dibbell's moral quandaries about specific practices within the game world (such as under-pricing purchases from people who might have really needed the money), his attempts to create a global supply chain of gold farmers with a businessman in Hong Kong, his ill-fated transaction with a young man who wanted money to be sent in a CD case, and his sentimentality over his tower/property within UO.
An account of Dibbell's foray into making money through buying and selling virtual items in Ultima Online in I think the early 2000s. Dibbell is a highly entertaining writer and I'm interested in the book's themes because of my research. I found his detailed explication of the labour (playbour) involved, winding supply chains, sales platforms, and the usage of bots and cheating to be both painstaking and fascinating; however, I think that his attempt to theorise about it feels slightly flat. He sets out a premise/claim about work and play at the beginning of the book which was never quite met--I think as reportage it was strong enough to stand up on its own without necessarily requiring an engagement with theories of play--and I also think that said premise was a little unformed and tentative, but delivered with slightly too much gravitas. Perhaps it's because I'm reading this in 2023 and it's so clear to us now how much play interweaves with work due to the widespread gamification of everyday life and Dibbell is writing from quite a different context, so his arguments feel a little tenuous and not strongly supported.
Regardless, it was a speedy and entertaining read, especially Dibbell's conclusion that the only way to make money from gold farming is through cheating, or being willing to deal with cheaters. I also really liked Dibbell's moral quandaries about specific practices within the game world (such as under-pricing purchases from people who might have really needed the money), his attempts to create a global supply chain of gold farmers with a businessman in Hong Kong, his ill-fated transaction with a young man who wanted money to be sent in a CD case, and his sentimentality over his tower/property within UO.
March 24, 2019
Synopsis: I think that this book has been on my to-read list since it was published in 2006. I finally got around to reading it and it was interesting to read this book in the context of 2019 as opposed to when it was written. The book was about the digital economies of online role-playing games such as World of Warcraft, Everquest, Eve Online, Second Life, etc. Similar to apps like Candy Crush or Farmville, a lot of the value in these games comes from simply spending time in the game and people are willing to pay for the items that are or can be produced by those who have spent enough time in the game to have obtained the expertise necessary to create rare items in the digital marketplaces. This book gives background about these games and economies and outlines the author's attempt to create an income stream from the trading of these items that would be enough to live off of.
My Review: For the record, I've never actually played any of these games (or similar games), so I wasn't 100% familiar with what the book was about. That said, I still found this relatively interesting, but this was a book that would have been far more intriguing during the heyday of these MMORPGs (massive multi-player online role-playing games).
My Review: For the record, I've never actually played any of these games (or similar games), so I wasn't 100% familiar with what the book was about. That said, I still found this relatively interesting, but this was a book that would have been far more intriguing during the heyday of these MMORPGs (massive multi-player online role-playing games).
February 6, 2018
This was interesting to read in 2018. When discussing games these day people often throw around the words pay to win. Apparently it's not a new phenomenon created by evil gaming corporations to suck the most money out of it's customers. It was going on all along and they just wanted in on a piece of the action.
It was a nice snapshot from 2006 when online games were first gaining serious traction. Now they're just old hat.
It was a nice snapshot from 2006 when online games were first gaining serious traction. Now they're just old hat.
June 18, 2019
I waited to read this book for almost 10 years. It wasn't what I expected. Wasn't even as good as the other they recommended me along this one (Masters of Doom or Game Over: The Story of Nintendo).
Not a total loss, though, I think the first third of the book was amazing, but then it diluted into a day to day story without much content we know Americans love to tell...
Not a total loss, though, I think the first third of the book was amazing, but then it diluted into a day to day story without much content we know Americans love to tell...
March 18, 2010
Journalist Tom Chatfield of Prospect has chosen to discuss Julian Dibbell's
Play Money: Or, How I Quit My Day Job and Made Millions Trading Virtual Loot
, on FiveBooks as one of the top five on his subject - Videogames, saying that:
“Julian Dibbell decided he was going to spend a year trying to earn enough money to live off, purely by trading in virtual goods. Virtual goods are things that usually only exist within a game world, but which people value so much that they are prepared to pay real world money for.”
The full interview is available here: http://five-books.com/interviews/tom-chatfield
“Julian Dibbell decided he was going to spend a year trying to earn enough money to live off, purely by trading in virtual goods. Virtual goods are things that usually only exist within a game world, but which people value so much that they are prepared to pay real world money for.”
The full interview is available here: http://five-books.com/interviews/tom-chatfield
July 14, 2012
As an avid sci-fi fan I am fascinated by the concept of virtual reality - and have watched the latter evolve from the possibilities of Snow Crash etc to the current reality of MMOs and other varieties of virtual social interaction. I admit to being a sometimes-addicted online gamer, where most of my fascination is driven by observing the social and economic structures of such artificial environments. Julian tackles many of the ethical, social, and economic questions raised but he is honest enough to admit that his quest ended without finding satisfactory solutions. The context of this book is now rather outdated, the current environment is now more mainstream, with Blizzard recently making gold selling "legal" in Diablo 3 - and profitable for them!
This is a thoughtful and honest exploration of a sociological area that is likely to become an increasingly prominent area of future society.
This is a thoughtful and honest exploration of a sociological area that is likely to become an increasingly prominent area of future society.
May 5, 2007
I was inspired to read this book after hearing about it on Fresh Air with Terry "Disgusting." My rating is probably a little harsh (I just couldn't bring myself to give it a 3), because I don't know enough about Massive Multiplayer Online Games. However, there are some really interesting elements about this book; cool and mind blowing stories about where our gaming and recreational culture may be headed. Unfortunately, Dibbell, gets a little too "profound" with some of his chapters. These philosophical chapters really slowed my progress through this book because, frankly, I didn't care about his philosophy the "game" in general. Bear in mind, this was like two or three chapters, so don't let my review stop you from reading this book.
May 9, 2008
Pretty quick read, this one: Play Money: Or, How I Quit My Day Job and Made Millions Trading Virtual Loot. In the genre of "guy quits his job and spends a year doing something different", which I seem to like. This guy, Julian Dibbell, decided to see if he could better his yearly salary as a writer by selling virtual items in a few different MMORPGs. (If you don't know that wonderful acronym, please follow the link.) I've always been fascinated by the concept, but not so much that I actually am interested in playing in one. At any rate, he makes a go of it, delving into the social and economic aspects of the game, the shady bits and the nebulous tax status of the virtual economy, but always keeps it very readable. Only recommended if you're interested in that sort of thing...
February 5, 2015
To look at it, it seems like this would be a book for "gamers" or yet another get-rich-quick scheme, but behind the gently annoying marketing he actually touches on a lot of interesting and far-reaching concepts; economy, and how economies are created, the blurriness of economy, what exactly is a computer, in it's simplest sense? and why do we care? Human nature and our need for challenge and opposition(however much we may love to despise it). Read with an open mind and you'll find it slightly more open at the end.
January 13, 2009
A fascinating look at the early days of RMT (real money transaction) trading in MMOs, I found the concept rather interesting as the author himself starts to dabble in, and keeps a record of his burgeoning RMT business in Ultima Online.
That said, it is probably not going to be very exciting, or even remotely relevant unless you've played an MMO yourself. Also, it's somewhat outdated, as Ultima Online was replaced by Everquest and World of Warcraft.
Wonder if he'll do a sequel?
That said, it is probably not going to be very exciting, or even remotely relevant unless you've played an MMO yourself. Also, it's somewhat outdated, as Ultima Online was replaced by Everquest and World of Warcraft.
Wonder if he'll do a sequel?
December 30, 2014
Fun gonzo piece about one man's attempt to earn a living from MMOs. While it's a bit dated now (his main source of income was Ultima Online), it provides a great insight into how this business works and some of the people who were involved in it. Has a great section where he tries to hunt down an early gold farm. Very entertaining read which sheds a lot of light on the realities of the economies of these large scale games.
December 22, 2008
Another interesting book by Julian Dibbell. Disarmingly personal. Excellent literature review. Misleading subtitle - he earns millions of plat or something, not dollars. You leave somewhat disappointed that he wasn't wildly successful.
February 1, 2009
How to live as a gold farmer and not-quite make it, but along the way provide a bunch of anecdotal validation for how much virtual worlds matter. Good if you believe in 'em, also good for someone who doesn't understand people who believe in 'em.
August 19, 2012
This book might have passed its best before since the online game scene has developed in recent years, but as it is well written, it is still an interesting read, inducing thoughts about technological virtuality, technological optimism and what not...
December 27, 2007
Cool account of the underground world of virtual economies in massively multiplayer online roleplaying games. Supposedly the total GDP of the virtual world is slightly larger than Russia's
January 17, 2008
Interesting discussion of the economics of online games, and the dichotomy between work and play.
May 13, 2008
Very Interesting book on the history and economy of virtual worlds. There's actually a monetary "exchange rate" between real money and everquest2 money. I really liked this one.
February 2, 2009
A pretty astounding book that introduced me to virtual worlds and the people and economy that can crop up around them
September 17, 2009
this is a pretty interesting little read about RMT (real money trading) on MMORPGS (Massively multiplayer online role playing games.)
July 15, 2025
This was such an interesting read. I was unaware of this digital economy, and the amount of real money that some are willing to pay for virtual items.
October 6, 2011
I found this book really fascinating. I had no idea this type of thing existed.
April 17, 2012
nice, anecdotal story
January 29, 2015
unimpressive nonfiction book related to gold-farming and the like. Rambly but not in a good way. Not especially interesting or informative, but still an interesting enough subject. 3 of 5.
April 30, 2014
Cela aurait pu être encore meilleur mais c'est déjà pas mal... Erwan ou Bruno, si il est traduit un jour (Ou si vous voulez vous mettre à l'Anglais...), c'est un livre pour vous ! ;-)
December 11, 2013
Homo ludens vs. The protestant work ethic.
Real vs. Virtual worlds.
Blog-style writing on how he started making money with virtual goods.
Real vs. Virtual worlds.
Blog-style writing on how he started making money with virtual goods.
October 5, 2014
Interesting, especially for anyone paying attention to Terra Nova and the evolution of MMOGs over the past ten to fifteen years or so.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews